The little baby chicks are growing like weeds now. And every day they get just a little more beautiful, look a little more like their adult self and gain more and more personality. Karen spends hours looking for things to do for them. They were less than a week old when she introduced their first swing to them. It’s no wonder they took to the swing for their 25 day old photos.

Edie, 25 day old mystery bantam

We’re pretty sure little Edie is going to be a frizzle. Her feathers are a hot mess and she is adorable. She’s always right there looking at me when I am holding one of the other chicks, she fusses a bit when I pick her up and then, she settles right down into my lap. She’s quite proud of her unruly feathers and spends a good deal of time preening. Her dark feathers are kind of brindle right now, just like a greyhound.

Talley, 25 day old americauna

Talley is the love bug. She curls down in my lap and goes to sleep. She would be happy to be held forever. We have high hopes that once we move them out to their coop they will still let us pick them up.

Gracie, 25 day old mystery bantam

Gracie is our puff ball. She’s still the smallest member of the flock and just as sweet as can be. We thought she was going to be a silkie, but now we aren’t so sure. This week she had a little crest develop and she still has her fluffy pants and shoes. Stay tuned.

Maude, 25 day old olive egger

Miss Maude. We still aren’t sure what she will look like. I have no doubt that she will be beautiful. She also loves to be held and cuddled. She’s a master at playing hard to get, but then, she snuggles right in.

Her feathers have gotten much darker, but most of her pants that she had as a baby have gone away.

Hillary, 25 day old black australorp

Hillary is by far our biggest chick. Last week she looked like a bald eagle, this week, not so much a bald eagle. She is the most confident of the chicks and not a fan of playing cuddle chicken. She tolerates it. She watches me like a hawk when I’m holding the other chicks, I guess she’s just watching over them to make sure they are safe.

Blender, 25 day old barred Plymouth Rock chick

And last but not least, Blender. She has made the most amazing changes of all. She’s stunning with her black and white feathers. She’s gonna be the first one to try and fly. She loves the swing more than any of the other birds and she loves to be held and cuddled.

I knew we would love the chicks, I never in my wildest dreams thought they would become their own personalities nor did I think I would fall so head over heals in love with them.

Saturday’s photos of the 19-day old chicks brought many changes in their appearance. Every day I am amazed by the changes they make. Blender’s changes were probably the most dramatic as she changes from a ball of downy fluff to stripy.

We spend as much time as possible in with them. Sometimes, we are just amused as they scratch, scratch, scratch at their bedding, other times we sit and hold them in our laps. Nearly all of them are content to stay in our hands. Sometimes they peck at our rings and watches, other times they almost go to sleep.

The custom coop is about a week out from delivery and the chicks are about 5-7 weeks out from actually moving out to the coop. We’ve doing our due diligence on care and feeding of our pets with benefits.

The toy John Deere tractor was a gift from my first boss at the college. My dad was farmer and I have many memories of him out on the old tractor.

Megan and Grandpa

Dad’s family owned a wheat farm in western Nebraska. They sold the farm shortly after we visited.

Three weeks of Blender.

Top left—two days old. Top right—six days old. Bottom left—11 days old. Bottom right—19 days old.

I took this photograph of Hillary on Sunday, spent the week when I had time painting it and now, she looks nothing like this.

I am completely amazed at how fast the chicks are growing and changing. Feathers are coming in everywhere. We moved them into the bigger brooder on Sunday and I’m so glad we did, they are probably four times bigger this week.

They eat a ton. Make a mess of their water and they truly are little poop machines.

They scatter to the winds in their big brooder when we go to pick them up, but as soon as we have them, they almost always settle right down and purr. Coolest thing ever.

They love spreading their wings and running the length of the brooder. Karen put a swing in there and Blender is the one that loves swinging more than anyone else. Talley loves to be held. Sheesh, I think she would sleep with me if she could. I don’t think we’ll be able to trust any of the dogs with them though. Darn.